Vertical conveyors in the form of circulating paternoster elevators and oscillating vertical elevators, for example, within a commissioning shelf of a commissioning unit, are known according to the state of the art. So-called circulating C conveyors and circulating S conveyors are also known as vertical conveyors, for example, according to EP 0 396 925 A1. A mobile support, e.g., platform, cabin or the like, which supports the materials being conveyed and is guided in a height-adjustable manner and in the vertical direction by means of a mechanical drive, is characteristic of all the aforementioned vertical conveyors. The complicated mechanical drive, the complicated guiding and especially the bulky overall design, which is designed for a single individual height difference only, between which the material being conveyed is to be transported, are disadvantageous. If the material being conveyed shall be transported over a smaller or greater height, the system cannot be expanded or converted, at least not with simple means. Consequently, the prior-art systems lack flexibility, i.e., the adaptability to different conveying heights.